VetPals inventory replenished

After selling out of the initial run of 2,500 units, Hartz Mountain Corp. has announced that it has restocked its VetPals inventory with 15,000 more of the plush pet toys.

In addition to their availability at the Hartz Mountain Corp. booths at the Western Veterinary Conference in February, veterinarians can order the toys for a special price through the vetpals.org Web site or by calling (888) 281-6400.

Hartz had announced earlier that beginning in early 2006, VetPals also will be available for purchase directly by consumers in select national retail outlets where Hartz products are sold.

Introduced in May 2005, the VetPals series of six plush toys was developed in partnership with the American Veterinary Medical Foundation. Each set of toys includes six species—a dog, a cat, a parrot, a gerbil, a rabbit and a horse. They are marketed to veterinarians for $30 per set for use as client gifts or to sell in their practices.

Each toy's tag tells the story about how animals are helped during emergencies by the AVMF, and a portion of all sales (to consumers and to veterinarians) will be donated to the Foundation. Hartz expects that introduction of VetPals into the retail marketplace will boost sales and result in increased dollars to the AVMF, and an expanded public awareness of the Foundation's disaster-relief mission.